Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong hit two parked cars with an SUV after a night of partying in Aspen, Colorado, but agreed to let his longtime girlfriend take the blame to avoid national attention, a police report said.
The police cited Armstrong with failing to report an accident and speeding weeks after the incident occurred on Dec. 28 last year, but only after his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, acknowledged lying for him.
Hansen initially told police she had been driving home from an Aspen Art Museum party when she lost control of Armstrong’s GMC Yukon on icy roads, hitting the cars. She said she drove because “Lance had a little bit to drink,” the report said.
Thomas Van Allen, who had been renting one of the damaged cars, told a police officer that Hansen came running up to his house in high heels, apologizing and promising to pay for the repairs.
“She said, ‘I’m Anna, we’re the Armstrongs, my husband’s Lance, he was just driving maybe too fast around the corner or something,’” Allen told the police, the report said.
The police said Hansen and Armstrong left the scene before they arrived. Detectives later interviewed Hansen, who eventually told them Armstrong was driving, but the couple had decided to let her take the blame.
“We’ve had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I’ve got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family,” Hansen told the police, the report said.
Failure to report an accident is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of between US$150 and US$300. Driving too fast for conditions is punishable by a fine between US$15 and US$100.
Hansen has not been charged with a crime. Armstrong is due to appear in court on March 17.
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